Well, this one is a significant improvement over the one on West 10th. The West 10th Gold Train Express used to be fabulous. It has gone seriously downhill in every way, especially in the quality of the service of the staff. This one was much better - I ordered the same thing that I used to always order at the West 10th location. It was MUCH BETTER food, the service was GREAT, the atmosphere was SO MUCH NICER. I will definitely go back to this one again, and I will never, EVER go back to the one on West 10th.

Went here on a weeknight and they were pretty dead, only 2 tables. Ordered a large Pho and it was just average, sufficient noodles but the tendons were a bit on the skimpy side with the beef being just OK. Soup is a bit on the bland side as well. The salad rolls were below average, as they were a bit small and had too much bean sprouts inside. Service is typical of a vietnamese pho place, minimal but adequate. Ambiance is a bit strange as they have mismatched decor, a bit western with a bit Eurpopean with some neon signs. Value is just OK and would return for Pho as there are not too many options in kits.

Food:
There aren't a lot of pho places on the westside, but this is a very very poor comparison to what you can find on the eastside. The broth is severely msg laden, while being very tasteless. There is just wayyy too much msg in everything.

Service:
Friendly waitress, but she disappeared into the backroom for long periods of time.

Value:
Very poor. I ordered the vermicelli, and most vietnamese restaurants give it to you in a large bowl. This place serves it on a plate. Therefore, the serving size is about 3 times less than what is normally expected.

Our favorite Ba Le Deli also on Kingsway was closed for the day, we decided give this place a try since it was relatively close by. What a mistake.
My first impression of the restaurant when I opened the door...YUCK.
A couple of workers were changing and taking out garbage bags out of small buckets in front of customers while they were eating.
Overall look and feel of the place was filthy and service was very slow.
It was not busy, there were many seats available at the time I placed my order.
I noticed a couple seated in the corner shortly after I came in. When I came back 10 minutes later to pick up my order, they were still waiting to be served.

Our subs had NO FLAVOUR. (grilled?) chicken was fatty and with the heavily buttered bread, they were super oily and inedible.
Also, their salad rolls didn't taste fresh at all. Probably one of the worst I've ever had in Vancouver.
Found a long white hair on the surface of the roll. Totally grossed out and thru them away.
Needless to say we won't return.

The pho here is good, but nothing to wrie home about. The broth is not particularly rich, and I often find that they don't have enough noodles. This location is far better than the West 10th location, which I think should be declared a health hazard. Their cold drinks here are great, and there's nothing like an orange shake to perk you up on a hot day.

Finally, a Vietnamese restaurant in Kits. My wife and I stopped into this newly opened Vietnamese restaurant on the weekend. The first shock we encountered was the reasonable prices. $6.95 for a large bowl of spicy Pho Sate soup? $7.50 for a Grilled Lemon Grass Pork Chop on rice? In Kits? We thought it was too good to be true. It wasn't. The Pho sate soup was amazing. So flavourful we were shocked. The lemon grass grilled beef was the same. The portions were extremely generous. The flavours were good to great. The service was with a smile and as its a new restaurant, it was clean. We highly recommend it for a cheap, quick, tasty bowl of Pho or a full dinner. Its located in a bit of a restaurant no man's land on Broadway (3200 Block), so I hope it builds up a clientele quickly and stays.

We've been going to the GTE - really we call it the Vietnamese place - weekly for the past couple of months. Actually it may be primarily Cambodian since that comes first on the menu.

It's a really good value and we enjoy going there. The tea's good (for a cheap Asian restaurant), the portion size is ample for the money. The quality is good, lots of variety, the vegetables are fresh.

The pho is ok - soup didn't taste homemade. I really enjoy the bun thit nuong - BBQ pork on cool rice noodles with these fried peanut bits sprinkled on top, alongside the ubiquitous cucumber and carrot. They don't make the food too challenging for delicate palates - not spicy, very light on the fish sauce.

Friendly service. No rush, no pressure, but not slow. The fruit and cookie at the end is a nice touch.

There are TVs on at a tasteful volume that provide a nice distraction if you're dining alone.

This is a clean, inexpensive place & the food was OK. I was surprised that they do not take debit or credit cards! I felt like we were back in the 70's! There was no sign on the door or anywhere in the restaurant to let people know it is a "CASH ONLY" restaurant! I had to walk to a bank machine to get cash while my wife waited at the restaurant. In this day & age... I thought everyone takes debit or credit cards! They should at least put up visible signs to let people know!